An irregularly updated blog whose purpose is to chronicle the development of my various wargaming projects, but primarily my foray into the joys of colonial wargaming set in the Sudan

Thursday, 1 August 2013

Wings of Glory SummerCon, Prague

So, this weekend I have been attending the Wings of
Glory Summer Con in Prague.
Arrived on the late flight from Bristol and after a swift taxi ride into Old
Prague I arrived at the hotel at 11pm. Off to be, and up early for a morning
constitutional around the nearest bits of the Old City – across the Charles
Bridge and its lovely saintly statues and up to the castle to see the 0800
changing of the guard, and back via the Legi Bridge. Prague really is a lovely city, and some of
the architecture is just wonderful. A quick brekkie follows before meeting
Andrzej (Andy), the rest of the Polish contingent and Thomas from Belgium, and
then heading off in convoy to the venue at 1115(ish)

We settle in to the Con at the “Svet Deskovych Her”
games shop in Zitomirska. I get to meet some of the other names I know from the
Aerodrome forum, including Jan (the lead Czech, local organiser and provider of
most of the models in use), Mikhail, a retired Czech Air Force pilot (Mig 17,
19, 21 – a lovely chap who males the most amazing 1/200 WW2 aircraft), Markus
and Sven from Germany, and Nemanja from Serbia; After introductions, comparing
each other's models and lots of chat we get down to the first game. Its an
insane mission, a chateau defended by a barrage balloon chain and six Entente
fighters versus ten attackers (including a Gotha), some with incendiary bullets. I'm
flying with the Entente. Numbers tell almost immediately but the Entente puts
up a good fight and the Gotha
goes down. We are, though, eventually wiped out. Markus is the last surviving
Camel driver. I get a kill, but I'm wiped out in a collision with an Albatros.
German ace Sven amazes us all with his virtually indestructible Camel (over 20
damage cards at the end, mostly zeroes. The Polish children prove to be worthy,
and quite deadly opponents (Victor especially).

The atmosphere in the shop is stifling (outside
temperature 34 degrees, inside considerably hotter) as we go into a 2 hour
dogfight session. Five aircraft each side, aircraft shot down sit out the game
for two turns before resurrecting. I'm flying a Fokker D.VIII. Straight into
the action and a swift burst into a Camel sees it explode. Then I'm hit by
another Camel in a collision; draw the ten card, and next turn shot down.
Sitting out the game for 2 turns I re-enter, down another couple of Camels,
then set one on fire tht crashes in flames the next turn. Four kills so far and
on the last turn I'm about to hack another Camel when he's in a collision with
one of his own side and his plane is destroyed. I end the game with 4 kills, 5
for the day.

The final mission sees the Entente on a bombing
mission, attacking a port on the Adriatic with
three Brisfits, escorted by a Camel and a Spad VII. Against us are nine
Austrian Albatri and Aviatiks. Most of the Austrians don't appreciate the
comparable speed of the Brisfit against an Albatros so, when we blow through
their lines, they aren't in a position to turn and engage. They spend the rest
of the game in a tail chase. Unfortunately two do, and being the closest
Brisfit to these canny tacticians I get plastered. Not helped by my rear gunner
being killed. So my Brisfit goes down just short of the target. Our escorting
Camel goes down to a bang card for his first damage. The remaining Brisfits hit
the target, one goes down close to the target having just dropped his bombs.
The third runs for home and is on the verge of escape as he is finally brought
down (like Sven's Camel, this plane drew an unfeasibly large number of zeroes,
and made it across two game mats whilst being peppered by two Albatri!) Once
again, collisions figure heavily as the pursuing tail chasers bump into each
other many times – it seems that “Flying Officer Crash” is one of the top
hitters in these games, even with the clever collision resolution system that
on average only produced a “hit” in 1/3 of cases.

And so the Con came to a close. With five kills I'm
the second placed player for the day and I'm rewarded with a prize of a lovely
German Red Baron beer mug and a bottle of Vodka (which I donate to the shop
owner for hosting us – I can't take it back on
the plane, hand baggage only). Young Victor from Poland is the well-deserved winner with six
kills, his prize is a Gotha
repainted in Austrian markings and a large bottle of “rocket fuel” (which his
father appropriates).

I've had a fun
day, even if the stifling temperatures did wipe me out by the end. And I've
made some good friends too, as I always knew I would on a Wings of Glory event.